Reminders From AOPA About Airport Security
In the wake of two recent incidents where non-pilots easily entered airport property and took off with unsecured aircraft, the general public and the mainstream media have been in an uproar about the dangers of those little airplanes. To counter that, AOPA last week went on the offensive, but this time, the target was not the overreacting press, but the GA community itself. “What’s hurting us doesn’t have to happen. And you are an important key in stopping the threat to GA,” AOPA Prez Phil Boyer wrote in letters sent out last week to CFIs and FBOs. “What can we do about it? Secure your aircraft. And make sure your students, your employer, and the pilots around you are all doing everything they can to prevent aircraft theft.” Boyer said, “I pound my desk in frustration over those few stupid pilot tricks that make the news and then give the politicians a sound-bite issue and an opportunity to threaten us with onerous regulations. And believe me they will take every opportunity they can.” The solution, he says, is to not to provide that opportunity. “Let’s not give them any more ammunition,” Boyer wrote to FBO operators. “Ever. Please review your security procedures — now — and take any and all appropriate steps to keep GA safe, secure, and out of the news.”
